[Tlhingan-hol] Religious terminology

[Will Martin]

As an honest atheist, the term “saint” is an alien word to me, and it’s notable that it’s an English word and I’m a native English speaker. So, how are you going to translate that into Klingon if you can’t really explain it to me in English?

I really think you might as well try to translate the term “replicator” in the Star Trek universe into D’nai, a language of a fictional race that doesn’t have replicators in their universe. Or maybe translate the term “Holy Grail” to a language that belongs to a culture that has no religion and no concept of “cup” and doesn’t intake any substance that doesn’t require chewing. It’s like trying to come up with vocabulary for discussing the engineering concepts behind support bras that “lift and separate” to a culture of intelligent fungus who have no concept of engineering and have no experience with breasts to be lifted or separated, and no idea why anyone would want them lifted or separated.

Or maybe take on the role of mattress salesman, trying to explain to a Klingon the advantages of memory foam, ignoring the simple fact that Klingons prefer to sleep on hard, cold surfaces.

There are so many other things to talk about in the language for which the language is well equipped. I really think you are starting off in a direction for which you are poorly equipped, if this language is your tool. You’d have to be exceptionally well skilled; more skilled than I am, and I’ve been using this language since qep’a’ wa’DIch.

I suggest that you build your skill in the language taking on less challenging topics of translation, and then, years from now, once you have grown strong and confident in your ability to translate simpler things, perhaps return to your quest to translate religious texts into Klingon. Otherwise, you will be overly dependent upon the kindness of strangers to do most of your work for you.

There have been two attempts, to my knowledge, at bible translation into Klingon. One was slapdash, working from an English version of the bible, satisfying the author and not really anybody else, and the other, a more scholarly, academic attempt working from original language texts that was never finished. It’s hard. VERY hard. It’s not really appropriate for a new student of the language. Unless you want to create a second slapdash project that garners very little respect because it is so badly done.

I know this sounds sarcastic. It sounds like an anti-religious rant. While some of that is true, because I have spent enough years subjected to disrespect for my own religious beliefs, resolving that by deciding that this stuff is personal and doesn’t really need public discussion any more than one’s sex life, at the root of my message here is a truth worthy of note:

Religion is not an appropriate topic of translation for unskilled beginners trying to learn the language. So, if you really are trying to learn the language, you honestly would be better served working on some other topic until you already have enough skills to answer the questions you now ask others, because there are no short answers. It is not the case that someone can answer a few questions, give you some vocabulary, and then you can go off and translate the stuff you apparently want to translate.

It’s simply not going to work that way. You need another approach.

pItlh
lojmIt tI'wI'nuv



> On Dec 1, 2015, at 8:55 AM, Anthony Appleyard <a.appleyard at btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
> I understood that a saint was a Christian who in early times did something recognized as very holy, not merely "a member of the church, a fellow believer or follower".
> 
> Some saints were the first man who successfully preached Christiuanity in an area, e.g. St. Patrick in Ireland, or St.David in Wales.
> 
> Some saints were martyrs for their faith, e.g. St.Stephen who was stoned  to death.
> ----Original message----
> From : nahqun at gmail.com
> Date : 01/12/2015 - 12:09 (GMTST)
> To : tlhingan-hol at stodi.digitalkingdom.org
> Subject : Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Religious terminology
> 
> On Sun, Nov 29, 2015 at 6:32 AM, qunnoQ HoD <mihkoun at gmail.com <mailto:mihkoun at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > I've been trying in vain,to find ways to express the following words
> > in Klingon :
> >
> > bless (v)
> > saint (n)
> > sacred,to be sacred
> > holy,to be holy
> >
> > Does anyone have any ideas ?
> >
> 
> A saint is a member of the church, a fellow believer or follower.
> While I've seen {quvwI'pu'} used here before, and used it myself, you may want to consider playing around with
> {chuD} people, kin, member of the same group or tribe or clan
> {tuqnIgh} a member of one's house
> {vInDa'} compatriot, community member, cohort, fellow citizen
> 
> 
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